Propeller.



No. 775,155. PATBNTED NOV. 15, 1904.

T. G. THOMPSON. PROPELLER.

APPLIOATIOH FILED FEB. 11, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

INVENTOR v for 61" 6E0; .902 .a.@m j 5 3 lb W 'M I Allormy UNITED STATESPatented November 15, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

PROPELLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 775,155, dated November15, 1904.

Application filed February 11, 1904:. Serial No. 193,033. (No modelfl To1U w/wm, it Tim/y concern.-

Be it known that I, TORGER G. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cambridge, in the county ofDane and State of \Visconsin,have made certain new and usefulImprovements in Propellers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in marine propulsion, and relatesparticularly to the construction of the propellers; and the inventionconsists in certain novel constructions and combinations of parts, aswill be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the stern portion of avessel provided with my propellers arranged for propelling as well asfor steering the vessel, the propelling mechanism being shown in dottedlines. Fig. 2 is a detail top plan view of the propeller, illustratingthe operation of same as the propellerblade is swung from side to side.Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the propeller, partly brokenaway; and Fig. 4 shows a somewhat different construction within thebroad principles of my invention.

By my invention I seek to provide a construction which in its operationwill simulate closely the movements of a fish in propelling itself inthe water, and to this end I provide what for convenience of reference Icall the main arm, with the outer swii'iging end of which is connectedthe blade, so the latter can be swung bodily by the movements of themain arm on its center and also can swingon its pivotal connection withthe main arm in such manner as to secure a double action in thepropeller, resulting from the movements of the main arm with the bladeand from the movements of the blade to a limited extent independently ofthe main arm.

in the construction shown the main arm A is pivoted at one end at A,preferably by securing the same upon a shaft B, having a crank or othersuitable connection with a suitable drive power, so the main arm at itsfree end A may be oscillated or swung from side to side, as will beunderstood from Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

The blade C may be of any suitable form, that preferred being thefish-tail shape shown,

and such blade is pivoted in connection with the outer swinging end ofthe main arm, so the blade can swing with and independently of the mainarm in the use of the invention. I find it important to so support theblade that it will have a free action from end to end upon the water,or, in other words, so there will be no obstruction or interposed partbetween the blade or any portion of the same and the water in order tosecure the action of the full area or surface of the blade upon thewater in the use of the invention. To this end I provide for pivotingthe blade by a rulejoint, as shown, so the entire working surface of theblade will befreely exposed to the water and will act thereon with thegreatest power.

So far as described above my invention may be carried out in theconstruction shown in Fig. 4, in which the blade while pivoted inconnection with the swinging arm is pivoted directly to said arm. Iprefer, however, in order to get the greatest throw or movement of theblade with the given stroke of the main arm to employ a connectingsection or link D, which is pivoted or connected by a rulejoint D at itsinner end with the outer end of the main arm and has the inner end ofthe blade pivotally connected by a rule-joint with the outer end of thesaid section D at D as shown, so that when the arm A is swung to itsgreatest extent to one side or the other the blade may move beyond suchline of movement in the main arm, but will give slightly on the returnmovement of the main arm in such manner as to ease the reversal of themovement of the said main arm in the operation of the invention. Forsuch reason I prefer to employ the construction shown in Fig. 2, inwhich the main arm is connected with the blade by the intermediatesection, so that in the reversing of the movement of the main arm theaction of the blade upon the water will be gradual, thus avoiding anysevere shocks upon the machinery and enabling me to get the best resultsin the action of the blade upon the water.

In addition to the use of the invention for propelling the vessel itwill be understood that I may employ my novel form of propeller forsteering the vessel as well, and in securing this result I may employthe propellers in four sets at the stern of the vessel, two of g thepropellers being arranged at the sides of i the vessel at its stern andutilized for steering the vessel, while the other two propellers arearranged between the steering-propellers and are employed for thepurpose of propelling the vessel, as desired. The steering may beeffected by operating one or the other of the side propellers at will,the propeller at one side being operated while the opposite sidepropeller is at rest, or said side propellers may be operated withdifferent force or at different speeds in order to secure the desiredsteering of the vessel.

The construction is simple, easily applied to the vessels, can be easilyoperated, and will be found efficient in practical use.

By making the blade with its outer end recessed or incut at C, as shownin Figs. 3 and 4, the blade will operate with greater ease and moreeffect in the water.

The propeller will have the same power or action on the water whether itbe operated fast or slow.

Manifest] y the propellers may be employed in any desired number,especially on river or large ferry-boats having wide sterns, thepropellers being arranged in a series from side to side at the stern.

The invention can be used on large vessels or small ones, on fiat orother boats, can be operated singly or in pairs, and will increase thespeed of vessels, and will reduce the eX- penditure of power, and canalso be used in aerial navigation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination substantially as described of the vessel, thepropellers arranged at the stern thereof and at the opposite sides ofthe vessel and adapted for steering the same and the intermediatepropellers between the steering-propellers for propelling the vessel,such propellers consisting of a main arm arranged to be oscillated fromside to side, an

intermediate section, rule-jointed at one end to the swinging end of themain arm and the blade, rule-jointed at its inner end to the outer endof the intermediate section substantially as set forth.

9.. A propeller substantially as described comprising a main arm adaptedto be oscillated whereby to swing its outer end from side to side, and ablade pivoted at its inner end in connection with the outer end of themain arm and oscillating freely in both directions beyond the line ofthe main arm and having throughout its area an unobstructed surface foroperation upon the water substantially as set forth.

3. The propeller herein described comprising the main arm adapted to beoscillated whereby its outer end may be swung from side to side, theintermediate section rule-jointed at its inner end in connection withthe outer swinging end of the main arm, and the blade rule-jointed atits inner end in connection with the outer end of the intermediatesection and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

4. A propeller comprising a main arm adapted to be oscillated wherebyits outer end may be swung from side to side, an intermediate sectionpivoted at its inner end to the outer end of the main arm, and the bladepivoted at its inner end to the outer end of the intermediate sectionwhereby the said blade may be swung with the main arm and may also havea limited movement independent of the main arm substantially as setforth.

5. A propeller comprising an oscillating carrier and a bladerule-jointed at its inner end in connection with the outer end of theoscillating carrier and arranged and adapted to oscillate freely in bothdirections beyond the line of the main arm and to operate substantiallyas set forth.

TORGER G. THOMPSON.

itnesses:

SoLoN C. KEMoN, PERRY B. TURPIN.

